GUANGZHOU - China's manufacturing heartland of Guangdong province saw the establishment of 36,000 new foreign-funded enterprises in 2025 - a 38.7 percent increase - while its actual utilized foreign capital totaled 112.66 billion yuan ($16.13 billion), which was up 11.3 percent, according to the annual session of the Guangdong Provincial People's Congress on Monday.

A batch of major foreign-invested projects gained momentum last year. The BASF (Guangdong) BASF Zhanjiang Verbund site project, the ExxonMobil Huizhou Ethylene project and the CNOOC Shell Huizhou phase III ethylene project have cumulatively attracted over 120 billion yuan in investment. In 2025, the province saw 38 new major foreign-funded projects with actual investment exceeding $100 million each, which was a 40.7 percent increase.

Outlining its plan for 2026, the Guangdong provincial government work report proposed the accelerated introduction of high-tech and advanced technology investments that represent future development trends.

Efforts will focus on attracting more leading multinational corporations and sovereign wealth funds to invest in Guangdong, encouraging reinvestment by foreign enterprises within China, and expanding localized production. The province will align proactively with high-standard international economic and trade rules, deepen reforms to enhance the Guangdong Pilot Free Trade Zone, and strengthen coordination with the Hainan Free Trade Port.

The government work report also emphasized the promotion of high-standard and world-class services systems across all cities in the province, as well as the development of comprehensive and full-chain services covering entry-exit procedures, accommodation, dining, transportation, tourism, consumption and health care. Measures will include those to improve multilingual signage and convenient payment options to create a more international environment.